The present patent application relates to a liquid, aqueous, acid washing agent (detergent), which on its use contributes to a reduction in the bacterial count of the washing washed with it.
The removal of bleachable stains such as grass, tea, coffee, red wine and fruit juice stains on textiles is normally undertaken with the help of washing agents that contain bleaching agents. Normally, a system is used with a peroxygenated oxidizing agent that forms hydrogen peroxide in water, such as sodium perborate or sodium percarbonate, with a so-called bleach activator, such as TAED, which forms a peroxycarboxylic acid (in the case of TAED peracetic acid) in the aqueous wash solution. By means of this system, at a washing temperature of 40° C., a bleaching power can be attained, which in the absence of the bleach activator can only be obtained at markedly higher temperatures above 60° C. Nevertheless, there are numerous users who also use such bleaching agent-containing washing agents in so-called boiling washes (95° C. wash cycle). In this manner, a particularly good bleach result is obtained. Under these conditions, a side effect of a marked reduction in the bacterial count of the thus treated washing is observed, i.e. washing, heavily loaded with bacteria from normal use, and also the washing machine are disinfected without any problem. On the other hand, not nearly all washed materials support the conditions of a boiling wash. On the contrary, there is an increasing trend towards so-called low maintenance and functional textiles, which can only be washed at washing temperatures from 30° C. or 40° C. at the most. At these temperatures, an efficient disinfection using known bleach systems is not always satisfactorily guaranteed, particularly if the washing machine remains unused for some time. Moreover, the cited easy-clean textiles are often colored, and even at these low temperatures, there is the danger of an oxidative discoloration when using the known cited bleaching systems that contribute to disinfection and which are active in the alkaline conditions. The danger of a deleterious effect on the textiles increases further when the textile has been impregnated. Also, on washing so-called functional textiles, which consist of several layers of textured synthetic fibers in the form of knitted or woven fabrics, generally including microporous or hydrophilic membranes of materials such as Gore-tex® or Sympatex® or microfine capillary knitted fabrics, high demands are set for a gentle action of the washing agent being used.
Accordingly, there exists a requirement for a washing agent, which when used even at low temperature wash cycles, leads to a significant reduction in the bacterial count of the washing, neither damaging the textile material nor the color of the treated textiles and not causing any running of the colors, allowing an antistatic finishing of the washed textiles, improving the soft feel of the fibers and fleeces and enabling the retention of an eventual hydrophobic impregnation.